An automotive vehicle may employ a suspension system that includes a shock absorber consisting of a piston and cylinder, and a coil spring. The shock absorber may be secured at one end of the piston rod to a shock tower of a vehicle body by way of a strut mounting that operates as an upper support. An opposite end of the shock absorber may be connected at its cylinder portion to a knuckle attached to a hub assembly that rotatably supports a wheel. The coil spring may be disposed around an outer periphery of the piston rod and cylinder, and is generally located between an upper spring seat carried by the strut mounting and a lower spring seat carried by the cylinder. The shock absorber and the coil spring cooperate to cushion the vehicle body from oscillating energy generated by imperfections in the road surface, and help minimized transfer of the oscillatory movements to the vehicle body. The suspension system also operates to stabilize the vehicle when performing cornering maneuvers and to resist buffeting that may occur when encountering crosswinds.
Not all the external forces the vehicle encounters are absorbed by the suspension system and a portion may be transferred to vehicle body. These forces may be transmitted to the vehicle body through the suspension system shock towers and may cause flexing of the vehicle body depending on the magnitude of the force. Suspension loading on the strut towers may, under certain operating conditions, be large enough to cause vehicle body panels to elastically deflect a small amount, which may be mistakenly perceived by a vehicle operator as a slight waver in vehicle tracking.